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The Singapore Chronicles: Divergent Models
The city, we’re often told, is a model—something to be learned from, exported, improved. But what happens when models conflict? What if the city itself...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Singapore Chronicles: Designing for Urban Health
In the closing days of our field school, we sat around a modest table in a conference room overlooking the city skyline. It was our final debrief, and the...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Singapore Chronicles: Housing the Nation
Few cities in the contemporary world have made public housing as central to urban life as Singapore has. With over 80% of the population living in flats...
By Erick Villagomez -
UCS #63: A message from Broadway renters to the development community
See our Launch and Introduction about the launch of the © Urban Cartoon Syndicate and the announcement by CityHallWatch. *** Related Readings: The great...
By Urban Cartoon Syndicate -
On Taxes, Exemptions, Loopholes, and Reversals: A System Built for Speculation
In British Columbia, ordinary homeowners pay annual property taxes—and when they buy a home, they pay Property Transfer Tax. In recent years, the Province...
By Erick Villagomez -
UCS #62: Vancouver Plans for High Density #4: The Broadway Plan Park
See our Launch and Introduction about the launch of the © Urban Cartoon Syndicate and the announcement by CityHallWatch. *** Related Readings: Following...
By Urban Cartoon Syndicate -
The Slow Emergency
The crisis in Vancouver’s housing system isn’t explosive—it’s quiet, procedural, and often disguised as progress. Recently made public, the Broadway...
By Erick Villagomez -
Entitled to Flip
In Vancouver today, rezoning doesn’t necessarily mean building. Increasingly, it means something else: securing entitlements — legal permissions that...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Trifecta of Control: Stealth. Speed. Complexity.
In the 1960s, planning decisions in Vancouver—like many North American cities—were made behind closed doors. Freeways bulldozed working-class...
By Erick Villagomez -
When Local Planning Becomes Provincial Command: On Bill 13, Bill 15, and the End of Urban Democracy
In British Columbia, democracy is being redefined—not through elections or referendums, but through legislation with quiet names and sweeping...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Coriolis Effect, Part III: Reclaiming the Planner’s Toolkit
Parts I and Part II of The Coriolis Effect explored how market-aligned tools like the pro forma have subtly—but powerfully—steered urban planning in...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Coriolis Effect, Part II: Beyond the Spreadsheet
The Coriolis Effect, Part I went through a long gestation period as I humbly asked various people within the discipline for constructive feedback. I was...
By Erick Villagomez